Like most people, my de-conversion did not happen all at once, but rather in stages. Now that I am a full-fledged atheist, and I have had some time to consider all (or at least most) or the arguments for and against religion, I have come to a conclusion... (most) people believe what they WANT to believe.

If you are an atheist dealing with a Christian, you can never "win". You can say, "Give me your three main reasons you believe in the bible, and the three main reasons you don't DISbelieve in the bible." No matter what they say, and no matter what your response is, you are wrong. If you directly refute one claim, then that claim was not central to belief. If it is central AND you debunk it, you misinterpreted it. No matter what the Christian claim, you can come forth with a mountain of evidence, and it will make no difference.

Quite simply, people believe what they WANT to believe, and what most people want to believe is that they have not wasted their lives on a false religion. If my critical thinking teacher presents "evidence" that "they" have found "proof" of a "great flood", sediment on mountaintops, then that is proof of a great flood. Period. It is NOT proof of plate tectonics, that that piece of land used to be underwater, it is only proof of a flood.

There are a million other examples, that is just the one that I have had to deal with most recently. You cannot argue religion with the religious, because no matter how illogical, they will always have a counter-argument. The only thing you can do to promote atheism (I know that not everyone here is atheist, I am just using atheism as an example since that is how I feel), is to be available for those who TRULY want to ask "why", "how", etc. The people who are most likely to become atheists, will find other atheists to teach them. Those who are likely to remain religious in spite of evidence, will remain religious and ignore evidence.

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My Conclusions so Far

By Dethblight ~

Like most people, my de-conversion did not happen all at once, but rather in stages. Now that I am a full-fledged atheist, and I have had some time to consider all (or at least most) or the arguments for and against religion, I have come to a conclusion... (most) people believe what they WANT to believe.

If you are an atheist dealing with a Christian, you can never "win". You can say, "Give me your three main reasons you believe in the bible, and the three main reasons you don't DISbelieve in the bible." No matter what they say, and no matter what your response is, you are wrong. If you directly refute one claim, then that claim was not central to belief. If it is central AND you debunk it, you misinterpreted it. No matter what the Christian claim, you can come forth with a mountain of evidence, and it will make no difference.

Quite simply, people believe what they WANT to believe, and what most people want to believe is that they have not wasted their lives on a false religion. If my critical thinking teacher presents "evidence" that "they" have found "proof" of a "great flood", sediment on mountaintops, then that is proof of a great flood. Period. It is NOT proof of plate tectonics, that that piece of land used to be underwater, it is only proof of a flood.

There are a million other examples, that is just the one that I have had to deal with most recently. You cannot argue religion with the religious, because no matter how illogical, they will always have a counter-argument. The only thing you can do to promote atheism (I know that not everyone here is atheist, I am just using atheism as an example since that is how I feel), is to be available for those who TRULY want to ask "why", "how", etc. The people who are most likely to become atheists, will find other atheists to teach them. Those who are likely to remain religious in spite of evidence, will remain religious and ignore evidence.

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